Line marker



July 10, 1934. w w TIEDE 1,966,192

LINE MARKER Filed March 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l 7 4f y m1 5 451752 2 4/z f A TTORNEY.

July 10, 1934. w; w 1555 1,966,192

LINE MARKER Filed March 9, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 4 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY:

latented July 10, 1934 UNITED STATES ?ATENT OFFIQE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to markers for use in .which the material used inmarking may be either '5 in the dry or liquid state as desired.

defined line on either a smooth surface such as a concrete road or arough surface such as a cinderized track.

Another object of the invention is to provide a marker which is cheap tomanufacture and easy to assemble and in which the parts are soconstructed as to not easily get out of order.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter consisting of a hopper mounted upon a pair of wheels forrollmg the same along the ground and the bottom .of the hopper providedwith a slide for stopping the flow of material to the ground and aplurality of spaced fingers extending under the opening in the hopperand loosely pivoted at one. end and movable in a vertical plane toconform to the contour of the ground over which the device is being Fig.1 is a perspective view of my improved device. I Fig. 2 is a bottom planView thereof. Fig. 3 is a section of the lower endof the device takensubstantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a plan section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the that the hopper 1 is open at its upper and lowerends as indicated at 2 and 3 respectively and if desired a cover (notshown) may be placed over the open end 2 to prevent rain or moisturefrom entering the hopper. The lower end of the hopper 1 is provided withthe outturned flanged tportions 4, 4 and the members 5 and 6, preferablycastings, clamp the flange 4 therebetween by means of the bolts 57. Thelower face of the member 6 is provided with a plurality of lugs 8 andthe longitudinally extending metal strips 9 and 1 0 are secured theretoalso by means of the bolts Z. The strips 9,and 10 are provided with therolled end portions 11 and 12 respectively, the

same acting as supports for the device when it is not in use. The 3strips 9 and 10 have secured thereto the respective strap members 13 and14 the upper ends of the same being connected to.- gether by the strip15 and the upper ends of the members 13 and 14 and the intermediateportions thereof are rigidly secured to the hopper 1 by means of therivets or the like 16.

The rivets connecting the intermediate portion of the straps 13 and 14to the hopper 1 also connect the arms 1'7 and 18 to the respectivestraps 13 and 14 and the handle 19 for pushing the device along theground is connected to the arms 17 and 18 .by means of the strap irons20 and 21. The strap 15 has secured thereto a guide member 22 aperturedto receive the rod 23, the upper end 24 of the same being bent at anangle to the main portion of the rod to form a handle for turning thesame. The lower end of the rod 23 is provided with an eye 25 forengaging in a similar eye 26 formed on the upper end of the rod 27, thesame being journaled in an extension 28 formed integral with the member5. The lower end of the rod 27, as indicated at 29, is bent at rightangles to the main portion of the rod; and the end 30 is downwardly bentand extends through the elongated aperture 31 formed in the plate 32,the same being pivoted at 33 to the plate 34, that in turn being securedto the boss 35 extending from the lower face of the casting 6 by meansof the screws 37. By reference to Fig. 3 it will'be seen that the plate34 is spaced from the lower face of the boss .35 a distance equal to thethickness of the plate 32 by meansof the spacers 38. The boss 35 isprovided centrally thereof withthe opening 39 so that the markingmaterial in the hopper 1 may fall through the aperture 39 onto theground when the slide 32 has been moved to the position shown by dottedlines in p H 1 Fig. 2 thereby uncovering the said aperture.

drawings it will be seen sition shown in full lines in Figs. 2 and 3 theWhen the slide 32 has beenmoved to the po-' flow of marking materialwill be cut off. It will be clearly seen that by operation of the handle,24

to rotate the rod 23 that the plate 32 will be moved to .close or openthe aperture 39 as desired.

An agitator 40 is positioned at the lower end of v the hopper *1 and theshafts 41 and 42 have their" 1 0 innerends pinned at43 to theagitator'40 and are journaled in bearings 44 formed in the casting 5.The outer ends of the shafts 41 and 42 have connected thereto therespective ground wheels 45 and 46 so as the device is rolled alongthe'ground 5 the agitator '40 will be rotated thus tending to keep asteady and continuous flow of material fromthe hopper lthrough theaperture 39 to the ground; An inverted U shaped braoket=50 issecuredtothe-lower face of the member 'B' and at-1 the extreme forward edgethereof by the bolt 52 and a pin 51 extends through both legs of the Ushaped member. A plurality of fingers 53 are loosely pivoted upon thepin 51 and extend toward the rear of the device and are positioneddirectly beneath the opening 39. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 2that the fingers 53 are held in spaced relation one to another by meansof the spacers 54 surrounding the pin 51. It will be further noted byreference to Fig. 3 that the lower edge of the fingers 53 are curved atso that they may easily ride over any obstructions encountered in themovement of the device along the ground.

The fingers 53 will form a well defined line on the ground as thematerial that falls from the hopper will be limited in its spread by thetwo outside fingers 53.

The operation of the marker is as follows: The device is rolled alongthe ground to a position where it is desired to start the marking of aline on the ground. The handle 24 is then operated moving the slide 32to uncover the aperture 39 then upon movement of the device the groundwheels 45 and 46 will be rotated consequently rotating the agitator 40thereby causing the material in the hopper to be distributed through theaperture 39 onto and between the fingers 53 positioned therebeneath andas the device is rolled along a continuous line of uniform width will beformed upon the ground. When it is desired to stop marking the groundthe handle 24 will be operated to move the slide 32 to close theaperture 39. It will be understood that either slaked or unslaked limeor any liquid or dry material may be used in the hopper with equalsuccess as the fit between the slide 32 and the bottom of the casting 6will be of sufficient tightness to prevent leakage of materialtherethrough when the device is not in operation.

From the foregoing description it becomes evident that I have provided aline marker which may be used with equal success on even or rough groundand which is cheap to manufacture and assemble and economical inoperation and which will mark a line of uniform width as desired.

Having thus fully described my invention, its utility and mode ofoperation, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is- 1. A device of the character described comprising ahopper for containing marking material, open at its lower end, a slidepositioned below the opening in the hopper, means for moving the slideto cover or uncover the opening, and a plurality of fingers pivotallysupported at one end and spaced sufiiciently apart to permit the freepassage of material therebetween and having portions thereof practicallyparallel with the surface being marked positioned vertically below theslide and the opening in the hopper for defining the marking material asit falls to the ground.

2. A device of the character described comprising a hopper forcontaining marking material open at its lower end, a slide positionedbeneath the opening in the hopper, means for moving the slide to coveror uncover the opening in the hopper, an agitator positioned in thehopper and near the opening therein, a plurality of spaced fingers forpermitting the marking material to flow thereon and therebetween andpositioned below the'slide and the opening in the hopper for definingthe line the marking material makes as it falls to the ground, saidfingers having portions thereof lying in a plane parallel to the line ofmovement of the marker directly below the hopper opening, said fingersbeing pivotally mounted at their forward ends and relatively freelymovable as their trailing ends are dragged across an uneven groundsurface and means for rotating the agitator for causing the material inthe hopper to fiow in a continuous stream onto the fingers and thence tothe ground.

3. A device of the character described comprising a hopper forcontaining marking material open at its lower end, a pin positionedbelow the hopper and forward of the opening therein, a plurality ofspaced fingers positioned below the opening in the hopper and spaced atsufiicient distance apart to allow the material to flow freelytherebetween and for defining the line the marking material makes as itfalls to the ground, the forward end of the fingers apertured to fitloosely around the pin and the fingers having trailing portions directlybelow the hopper opening and lying in a plane parallel to the line ofmovement of the device and movable in a vertical plane to readilyconform to the contour of the ground.

4. A device of the character described comprising a hopper forcontaining marking material open at its lower end, an agitatorpositioned in the hopper and near the opening therein means for rotatingthe agitator for causing the material in the hopper to flow in acontinuous stream to the ground, a pin positioned below the hopper andforward of the opening therein, a plurality of spaced fingers positionedbelow the opening in the hopper, and spaced a sufficient distance apartto permit the material to freely fiow therebetween and for defining theline the marking material makes as it falls to the ground, the forwardend of the fingers apertured to fit loosely around the pin, and thefingers having portions thereof directly below the hopper opening andlying in a plane parallel to the line of movement of the device andmovable in a vertical plane to readily conform to the contour of theground.

5. A device of the character described comprising a hopper forcontaining marking material open at its lower end, a slide positionedbelow the opening in the hopper, means for moving the slide to cover oruncover the opening, an agitator positioned in the hopper and near theopening therein, means for rotating the agitator for causing thematerial in the hopper to flow in a continuous stream to the ground, apin positioned below the hopper and forward of the opening therein, aplurality of spaced fingers for permitting the marking material to flowthereon and therebetween and positioned below the opening in the hopperfor defining the line the marking material makes as it falls to theground, the forward ends of the fingers apertured to fit loosely aroundthe pin, and the trailing portion of the fingers positioned to liedirectly below the hopper opening in a plane parallel to the line ofmovement of the device and movable in a vertical plane to readilyconform to the contour of the ground.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a hopper forcontaining a marking material and having a discharge opening at itslower end, a'plurality of spaced fingers having portions directly belowthe opening and onto which the said material is discharged from thehopper, all of said fingers being pivotally mounted and spaced adistance apart to permit the marking material to pass therebetween tothe ground.

WALTER W. TIEDE.

